The Long Way Home
by Lulu V
Summary: Harriet Potter was stuck in 1942 with an awfully persistent young Dark Lord that is too interested in her for her own good. The only thing she wants is to find a way home and somehow manage to not totally decimate her timeline but Tom Riddle keeps getting in the way of that. Female Harry. HP/TR


Chapter 1

"I mark the hours, every one,

Nor have I yet outrun the Sun.

My use and value, unto you,

Are gauged by what you have to do."

In the darkness of a room hidden behind unremarkable stone walls, a figure shifted in a four poster bed. White lace curtains fluttered open with a wave of a hand and sleepy emerald eyes opened to gaze out of a tiny window that showcased Hogwarts grounds. Harriet crossed the room and with a twist of the silver doorknob emerged near a staircase which lead to the Ravenclaw dorms; the door sank into the background as if it was never later she was beneath the hot spray of water of the bathrooms commons. She closed her eyes, and contemplated her arrival in the past and the events that led to it. The last thing she remembered was Hermione's outstretched arms and horrified scream as a curse hit the glass jar of the Time Room in the Department of Mysteries.

* * *

She woke up with a pounding headache on the dark streets of Muggle London. Panicked and concerned (where was Hermione and Sirius), she stumbled to her feet with her wand clenched tightly in her hand and then abruptly stopped when she realized that this was not her London. Everything was newer and somehow outdated at the same time, the buildings and windows were different and she couldn't find the Ministry entrance anywhere even though she was certain that it was in front of that tall brown building.

Harriet heard a fluttering sound near her feet and glanced down to see a newspaper. For a moment the title did not make sense "Battle of Midday", her eyes narrowed as the article went to explain the US navy's defeat over the Japanese Army; she didn't understand because surely she would have know if the Muggles were fighting (Vernon would not have missed his chance to bitch about the Americans and Hermione would have mentioned it anyways). Her heart went cold when she saw the date: June 7, 1942. Slowly she looked up and what she saw now in this version of London suddenly made sense. The final piece slid into place and as she stood there alone and cold in that dark muggle street Harriet came to terms with the fact that she was alone and nobody was going to help her out of this.

She spent the night in a small alley clutching the newspaper and wand in a tight grip, the hold faltering when she finally fell asleep. When she woke up near the crack of dawn, she wiped her face and pushed the thoughts of her loved ones to the back of her mind.

Harriet stood up from the cold floor -thankful for Hogwarts robes that helped ward off the chill- and without thinking about it flicked her wand to brush the dust from her robes. She froze when she realized that she should not have done that-she was underage and the ministry was going to ask questions that she was not ready for. Harriet cursed and blamed her current condition on this-stupid,stupid, stupid- mistake, this slip up that could bring her nasty consequences. She considered apparating (Sirius and Remus insisted and taught her how to do it behind the Order's back when she stayed that summer) but she still did not have a license and then the ministry would track her anyway. She resigned herself to lies and perhaps ignorance if the ministry asked to many questions(who are you, where are your parents, where are you from, why did you use magic) but time passed and the ministry did not come, not even an owl.

Why did they not come?

Maybe-she dared hope- they did not come because they didn't know. Sirius explained to her that while she, an underage witch, was near an adult wizard the Trace would assume that any magic was done by the adult wizard. Hermione was outraged when she found out this loophole allowed pureblood wizards to exploit the law while muggleborn students had no other option but to go without magic for months. This meant that when Sirius offered his expertise regarding magic (specifically transfiguration, aparation and dueling), Hermione was willing to bend the rules and practice magic alongside her beneath the safety of the Black wards (and if her grin was a touch feral Harriet pretended not to notice). Sirious also explained that most pureblood homes had wards that allowed the ones inside the house to use magic undetected and this way they nullified the Trace. She was not in a pureblood home and neither was she near an adult wizard which only left one option: she did not exist in this time.

So if she didn't exist what did she do now?

She need money to survive and if she planned to go to Hogwarts she also needed an identity. A job, shelter and food was necessary in the meanwhile if Harriet ever was going to return to her time.

* * *

Water ran down her slim body as she showered, her long black hair was plastered to her back and she reached for a bottle of potion- her mother's version of magical shampoo that smelled like lavender and tamed the frizz of her curls quite nicely- to wash her hair. A while later she shut the water and conjured a white towel to dry herself. She dropped the towel to the floor-it would disappear soon enough anyway- and changed into her Hogwarts robes.

She left the Ravenclaw common rooms with her bag of books. Breakfast was a short affair when you were friendly with the House elves so after a short stop in the kitchens she entered the library. A quick Tempus charm told her it was 7:09 so it was early enough that the librarian was present at the library.

A young Madam Pince- and was that not strange to look a familiar and unfamiliar face at the same time- sat at the reception and she did not look up when Harriet entered. - She returned the books she had checked out weeks ago and left to explore the library. Most of the books of time travel Harriet devoured within the first few months here. Time, Harriet learned, was a very complicated thing. Time turner's did exist in this time- had in fact since the 1800's. The Hour Reversal Charm -which the book did not give she thought sourly- was a very complicated and unstable Charm that barely could be stabilized by the special magical artifact that was the hourglass necklace. The level of effort necessary to create the Time Turners was astronomical and the maximum allowed time to go to the past was five hours, more than that was extremely dangerous.

She has tried her very hard not to affect this era (even though she wants to, how much she wants to hurt that dark, dark boy responsible for so much pain- her pain, Sirius' gauntness, her parent's corpses) because meddling with time could result in Hermione, Sirius and her parent's disappearing from the timeline altogether (and that was simply not an option). So she keeps her head down and her gold bracelet (the one Sirius gave her for her fifteenth birthday) hums with power to hide her from view- look away, nothing to see here. She suspects that the rune sequence she created and the modifications she made to the Notice- Me-Not Charm worked so well and created such a powerful magical artifact because Time itself is helping her smooth out the inconsistencies and damage she has done to the time line simply by being there. If she does not interfere and if she goes unnoticed nothing will happen to her precious loved ones.

The loneliness is the worst part though; she tries not to interact with people. The months before the start of term were spent in isolation. Harriet made a living by selling illegal potions in Knockturn Alley and by getting a job as a waitress in a high end restaurant in Diagon Alley. She manages, not enough for Hogwarts tuition but enough to get by and to buy herself a new identity Harriet Jane Evans. Harriet lived secluded in a magical tent, alone and she tried hard not to go mad with grief and loneliness. She tried to hope. She likes being in Hogwarts again even though she does not speak to anybody; it's comforting to see people and not be so alone. It was a risk coming to Hogwarts but it was necessary because she needs to find some way to return her time. And she can if she works for it.

Harriet is a smart and driven girl that was determined to make something of herself when all her life she was told she was nothing. In her first year when she was told magic was real and that she was the Girl-Who-Lived she was so happy that she belonged to the wizarding world but sad that she was someone because of a tragedy that robbed her of her parents. So she decided that she was going to be someone on her own terms. She made friends with the bossiest most loyal girl in her year. She loved Hermione and she knew that they pushed each other a lot to be the best version of themselves. She was better at practical work than theory but she could hold her own in theory thanks to Hermione. Potions was one of her favorite subjects and Professor Snape was always nice to her unlike his treatment to the other Gryffindors. Ever since she found her mother's journal in her Trust Vault she held a special place in heart for the subject- a way to connect with the mother she never had the chance to know by retracing her steps in Potions and finding out about all a young Lily's life.

The young witch enrolled in Hogwarts for her fifth year-an identity with OWLs was a pretty hefty sum. She didn't mind. The first time around the material was laughingly easy. Hermione and her were leagues ahead of everybody else. Keeping up with her classes now required almost no effort. She instead dedicates to researching magic like Charms, Arithmancy and Ancient Runes that could her in returning to the future. Harriet loves magic. She feels awe and wonder at the feel, and the scent of it. The more you push and increase your magic, the more you become attuned to it. There comes a point that you can even see the magic, this though is only managed by powerful wizards.

Now in the beginning of November, she was in a much better position that she was when she got here. Harriet thinks that going back to the future is going to be an endeavor that will take years but she can't trust anybody to help her with this task because she can't risk altering the timeline and creating a paradox. She is not supposed to be here. She shouldn't be here. Because of this she distances herself from everybody and uses the charmed bracelet to avoid attention. The gentle suggestion planted in Armando Dippet's head -that the new transfer student was not important and thus should not be announced publicly and loudly at the beginning of term- worked wonderfully. In fact, almost no one knew she existed in her year. People did not even know there was a transfer student this year. And everything is going according to the plan, Harriet thought satisfied as petal pink lips curled into a smile.

With one exception.

The fact that Tom Riddle was stalking her.

As she reached an olive skinned hand to grab the book "Spell Creation: An Analysis on the structure of Spells by Robert Herring", a hand snatched it before she could even touch it. Withholding an exasperated sigh, she cleared her mind with Occlumency and turned calmly to regard the beautiful dark haired boy that was holding on to the book innocently.

"Good morning Miss Evans", Tom Riddle said cheerily. His smile was beautiful and his expression genuine but if you looked into his dark eyes you would see the taunting glint shining wickedly out of them.

So this could be a oneshot or not. Guess it depends on reception. I have another story and I guess I would update that next. I hope to get some support from you guys this was pretty time consuming. So please give me some love. :D


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